I believe that good developers are always passionate about programming. Good developers would do some programming even if they weren’t being paid for it.

#2 : Self-teaching and love of learning

A good programmer doesn’t need a training course to learn a new technology.

#3 : Intelligence

The cliché of the programmer who’s incapable of having a conversation is just that – a cliché.

#4 : Hidden experience

A good question to ask a potential “good programmer” in an interview would be “can you tell me about a personal project – even or especially one that’s completely irrelevant – that you did in your spare time, and that’s not on your CV?”.

#5 : Variety of technologies

Learning a new technology is one of the most fun things a programmer with any passion can do. So they’ll do it all the time, and accumulate a portfolio of things they’ve “played around with”.

#6 : Formal qualifications

This is more a of non-indicator than a counter-indicator. The key point to outline here is that formal qualifications don’t mean squat when you’re trying to recognise a good programmer.

Mobile Engineer

Take WordPress and other Automattic projects to the small screen by developing Open Source mobile products for multiple mobile platforms. Work on apps for Android, Pre, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, iPhone, and other platforms using such interfaces like our XML-RPC API. The kind of person we are looking for would have:

Strong programming skills in multiple languages including Cocoa and Java.

Experience in developing and launching a popular mobile application.

Familiarity with the iTunes App store process.

Passion for blogging and a deep understanding of WordPress and the XML-RPC API.

Solid writing and communication skills.

Good product instincts and user experience chops.

Open Source project experience.

La seconda si riferisce allo sviluppo server side:

Code Wrangler

As a developer here you’re responsible for Making Stuff Go. The job is tough to describe because it’s so broad, but historically it has included new product development from conception to implementation, high-volume and high-concurrency programming, and a MacGyver-like dedication to squashing bugs. Here are some skills that will come in handy:

A strong understanding of the Web including HTTP, clean URIs, HTML, and CSS.